Leaving Venice, finally, reluctantly, I boarded yet another train and headed back down into Tuscany. I had booked my Florence hostel with the same company as the one that owned the Venice hostel I had just left, so was a little uncertain as to what I'd find. Plus Camping Jolly in Venice was by no means the worst hostel I've ever stayed at, but they misrepresented a whole lot on their site and that had been a source of continual disappointments. Plus Florence turned out to be okay -- biggest complaint was that there was no dedicated common room, just the restaurant/bar that was first extremely noisy, then dark, then closed. (Please see my Anti-Youth Hostel rant for more info.) But that turned out to not matter so much after the first night -- because I had my four-bed dorm room (complete with kitchenette!) all to myself for my last two nights! Quite an unexpected bonus, but also a very welcome one.
I spent my first morning in Florence trying to figure out Greece. I was having a terrible time finding a reasonable flight home, and even went so far as to check rates flying out of Prague, Istanbul, London, Paris... I couldn't find a deal anywhere for the dates I wanted. Ended up spending a good few hours playing with numbers, looking up hostels, ferries, flights... and finally left to see some of the city without having actually booked anything. Not my most productive morning.
As luck would have it, I'd been to Florence before, on a day trip from Rome when I was here in 2009. After the sexy chaos of Rome, Florence felt kind of like a wet blanket. I saw the David, the Galleria Academia, climbed to the top of the Duomo's dome. And I gratefully headed back to Rome at the end of the day. With such a lackluster first experience, I was planning on skipping Florence all together and staying in Siena instead. But Siena has no hostels, so due to lack of options I booked three nights in Firenze instead. I decided it might be good to give Florence one more chance. And after my second look....
I'm going to come right out and say it. I don't get Florence. Florence is, unquestionably, the most crowded city I have ever freaking been to, including but not limited to: NYC, DC, Chicago, Rome, Venice, London, Paris...
What are all these people looking at? Sure, the David is here, and that's cool. The Duomo is here, and that's cool too (on the outside anyway; the inside is surprisingly... dull.) But the fact is that Florence is not nearly as beautiful as Venice and not nearly as fun or interesting as Rome. Why were the streets packed like a rock concert? What are these people here to see that I am missing?
I went to check out the Duomo first, and all bias aside, this church is breathtakingly beautiful on the outside.
Like I mentioned, in '09 I paid eight euro to climb up to the top of the dome, and that was great, because it meant I didn't have to pay eight euro to do it again. Instead, I just went inside the basilica for free. For how incredible and over-the-top the outside of this church is, the inside is almost jarring in its sparseness. It looks almost unfinished.
That landmark checked off, I headed next to the Plaza Republica, where there happened to be a very cool little market happening. Stall after stall of wine, cheese, olive oil, truffle oil, bread, sweets.... and all giving out free samples! Bought a bottle of Chianti for five euro, but held out against the white truffle oil spread (SO amazing!!).
Saw the Ponte Vecchio, but did not walk across as it would not have been so much walking as much as moshing. With possible crowd surfing at points.
I wanted to visit this one church, Santa Crocce I think, where Dante and Galileo are buried. But as a surprise to no one, the line to buy tickets was huge, and those tickets were six euro. I passed. I'd spent my admission money on Chianti anyway.
One thing I had wanted to do back in '09, but was unsuccessful, was walking up to the Piazza Michelangelo for a view of the city at sunset. So that was next on the list, and my '09 self must have been quite the navigational retard, because there were seriously signs everywhere and it was very easy to find. My God damned Achilles tendons were screaming at me again, so I had to rest for a little while with a 3-euro glass of wine before tackling the final hill. :)
My hostel was kind of on the exact opposite end of the city from this piazza, and it was a long, painful walk back. I have been forced to slowly come to the pain-in-the-ass resignation that I am simply not able to walk for as far or as long as I would like at present. I've been trying to take things a little easier, and have shortened my sightseeing days where I'm on my feet, and even take days off, but it doesn't seem to matter. I usually have about an hour of pain-free walking and then all bets are off. Sucks.
Anyway, I'd thought I would get a market dinner that night and eat it at the hostel with my Chianti, but I passed a decent-looking restaurant that had a "menu of the day" for 10 euro. 10 euro was my budget to spend at the market, so I decided to do this instead, as it meant I would get to sit down right then.
Big mistake. Huge. I'd had a couple "menu of the day" dinners in France, and they were all so horrible I stopped doing that. But I thought "hey, this is Italy, the food here is awesome. Maybe this time it will be okay." Wrong. I had what I sincerely hope was my Worst Meal in Italy. Tasteless mushy gnocchi in a bland sauce followed by a tiny piece of stringy, fatty meat. Ugh. Then it took forever to get my check as I sat in a mostly-empty restaurant. I did not leave a tip.
Home for what blessedly turned out to be quite a quiet night in my empty room! I drank my Chianti, read, listened to music and just hoped my solitude would not be disturbed by drunk hipsters barging in at 11 PM! (This did not happen.)
And that was my day in Florence. I had one more night here but would spend the day in Siena. I think it is safe to say that from now on I will be content to leave Florence to the rest of you!
I spent my first morning in Florence trying to figure out Greece. I was having a terrible time finding a reasonable flight home, and even went so far as to check rates flying out of Prague, Istanbul, London, Paris... I couldn't find a deal anywhere for the dates I wanted. Ended up spending a good few hours playing with numbers, looking up hostels, ferries, flights... and finally left to see some of the city without having actually booked anything. Not my most productive morning.
As luck would have it, I'd been to Florence before, on a day trip from Rome when I was here in 2009. After the sexy chaos of Rome, Florence felt kind of like a wet blanket. I saw the David, the Galleria Academia, climbed to the top of the Duomo's dome. And I gratefully headed back to Rome at the end of the day. With such a lackluster first experience, I was planning on skipping Florence all together and staying in Siena instead. But Siena has no hostels, so due to lack of options I booked three nights in Firenze instead. I decided it might be good to give Florence one more chance. And after my second look....
I'm going to come right out and say it. I don't get Florence. Florence is, unquestionably, the most crowded city I have ever freaking been to, including but not limited to: NYC, DC, Chicago, Rome, Venice, London, Paris...
What are all these people looking at? Sure, the David is here, and that's cool. The Duomo is here, and that's cool too (on the outside anyway; the inside is surprisingly... dull.) But the fact is that Florence is not nearly as beautiful as Venice and not nearly as fun or interesting as Rome. Why were the streets packed like a rock concert? What are these people here to see that I am missing?
I went to check out the Duomo first, and all bias aside, this church is breathtakingly beautiful on the outside.
 |
| Duomo, with the Baptistery in front. |
That landmark checked off, I headed next to the Plaza Republica, where there happened to be a very cool little market happening. Stall after stall of wine, cheese, olive oil, truffle oil, bread, sweets.... and all giving out free samples! Bought a bottle of Chianti for five euro, but held out against the white truffle oil spread (SO amazing!!).
 |
| In. Sane. |
 |
| Ponte Vecchio Bridge |
 |
| Santa Crocce |
 |
| Florence from the Piazza |
Anyway, I'd thought I would get a market dinner that night and eat it at the hostel with my Chianti, but I passed a decent-looking restaurant that had a "menu of the day" for 10 euro. 10 euro was my budget to spend at the market, so I decided to do this instead, as it meant I would get to sit down right then.
Big mistake. Huge. I'd had a couple "menu of the day" dinners in France, and they were all so horrible I stopped doing that. But I thought "hey, this is Italy, the food here is awesome. Maybe this time it will be okay." Wrong. I had what I sincerely hope was my Worst Meal in Italy. Tasteless mushy gnocchi in a bland sauce followed by a tiny piece of stringy, fatty meat. Ugh. Then it took forever to get my check as I sat in a mostly-empty restaurant. I did not leave a tip.
Home for what blessedly turned out to be quite a quiet night in my empty room! I drank my Chianti, read, listened to music and just hoped my solitude would not be disturbed by drunk hipsters barging in at 11 PM! (This did not happen.)
And that was my day in Florence. I had one more night here but would spend the day in Siena. I think it is safe to say that from now on I will be content to leave Florence to the rest of you!
No comments:
Post a Comment